The Stage of Order and the Show of Chaos
by TheGoldenSun
Summary: After completing a mission in Piltover, Jhin gets caught up in a stage performance unlike any he had ever before been a part of. For the first time he shares the spotlight, with Zuan's own Loose Cannon. Will they be able to work together or will their sharply differing ways of causing mayhem cause this performance to fall flat?
1. Chapter 1

The man sat in a soft chair, sipping his afternoon tea. His windows were thrown open like doors, welcoming the cool breeze. His two-story apartment was one of the finest in Piltover, and his wallet certainly felt it. At least it would have, if he had paid for it with his own money. He smirked slightly as he recalled the memory, of an Ionian noble loaning him the money with the intent of opening a lucrative venture here in Piltover. He wondered if the noble ever caught on. It wasn't likely. Ionians were incredibly pacifist; even if he did find out, he wouldn't do anything. Only repeat a few of the empty platitudes that had been drilled into his head from birth and carry on with his life.

 _Probably why they needed help to rid themselves of Noxus._ He thought as he pulled up a newspaper and started reading.

The neighboring building was dark, completely void of life. Scheduled for destruction and prompt replacement the next morning, the building was cut off from the power grid in preparation. It was a lovely audience box. He was ready for the show to begin.

Khada Jhin crouched in the darkness. He adjusted Whisper again, making perfectly sure that its aim would be true. He had but one chance. One chance to make this man art.

His cartridge was full; this was his first bullet. The first glob of paint from where his art would flow was lovingly crafted, sheathed with gold with articulate design. It was Summer, the dawn of his performance. A golden drop of sunlit beauty.

He breathed softly, lowering his heartbeat and preparing himself for the moment. The final, beautiful moments of his canvas's life. He breathed again, and whispered a soft instruction to his puppet. _"You will dance to my song, and it will be beautiful."_

He squeezed the trigger, and time seemed to slow as his golden sunrise shone upon the man's body. He watched, his breath stolen as always. Fiery novas sparked, danced across the man's chest as he flew back on wings of fire. The novas blossomed into the articulate, beautiful patterns of the Ionian Fireblossoms as embers flaked from the demon's skin.

His performance was cut short by a deafening boom that ripped the stage apart, showing the Virtuoso with dust and debris. He was thrown back, bewildered by the sudden stop in the performance. He got to his feet quickly, and looked with dismay as the building in front of him was largely destroyed and crumbling as he watched.

"Those fools!" He said sharply, aloud as he picked up Whisper and wiped the dust from the instrument. "Did they mix up the building _and_ the time!" He paused. "No." He muttered to himself as he gathered himself. "Piltover is home of many things, gaudy weaponry among them. But one thing they do not have is inaccurate paperwork. I was upstaged. But by whom?" He detached his cane from Whisper, and affixed it to his belt.

Refolding the cartridges in his shoulder pad into something acceptable, he threw his vest back over it and left the building.

* * *

Jinx watched with glee as the building toppled over with a deafening roar, showering dust all over the streets below.

"WOO!" She shouted, pumping a fist in the air. "Only took one shot!" The awesome destruction of the building was soon drowned out by the obnoxious blaring of sirens. With a shrug she pulled out Pow-Pow and started firing recklessly the second the cop cars pulled around the bend.

Obviously surprised by the suspect outright attacking them instead of running, the cars swerved frantically as the drivers ducked beneath the shattered windshields. Jinx stopped firing and starting running towards the spinning cars. Following instructions as her brain came up with them, she leaped on top of the first car she encountered. Her boots clanged on the car, and she screamed with joy as she was spun around and around, her blue braids flying around like helicopter blades.

She jumped off the distraught vehicle and tumbled with an audible "ow" onto the hard street as the cars careened into the ruined building and promptly exploded.

She rolled to her feet and inspected the scene. "Pretty cool if I do say so myself, right Fishbones?"

She grabbed Fishbones and voiced his thoughts. "Oh gee, it was kinda cool but also very dangerous. You probably hurt those poor-"

"Can it Fishbones." Jinx snapped with a sigh. "Why do I think you'll change? You should be more like Pow-Pow. He understands that this is fun. Didn't you think destroying that building was fun?"

"You!" A different voice that was definitely not Fishbones spoke. There was a harsh and self-important tone in his voice, and Jinx's violet eyes snapped to the speaker, a tall man in a white vest. Was he part robot? Her eyes widened when she noticed the mask that he wore, a white one with a... smile on it? "How dare you interrupt my work? It was perfect! You ruined it with your insufferable-"

"Hey how are you talking without your lips moving?" She asked suddenly.

The man paused, puzzled for a second. "It's a ma-"

"Well duh, of course it is." Jinx interrupted with an eyeroll as she hefted Fishbones onto her back and pulling out Pow-Pow for a lighter load. "You honestly think I don't know what masks are? Pfft."

The man paused again. "Excuse me?"

Jinx tilted her head as she studied him closer. "Hey you're not from Snooze-ville are you? Cool. Hey maybe you know how to have fun. What's your name Mask-Dude?" She asked, interrupting his every attempt to answer.

The man waited a second, gesturing and asking "May I speak?"

Jinx shrugged. "Yeah sure."

The man began, but a officer threw open the door of his wreck and collapsed from the effort. Jinx whirled on the copper, filling him to the brim with bullets. She turned back to the man and smiled. "Sorry about that, he won't interrupt you again. Trust me."

* * *

Jhin watched as the young woman swiftly dispatched the hapless officer. _Crude._ He thought. _There is no heart in it._ Regardless, she understood the beauty of death, even if it was to a apprentice's degree, so he felt he should be polite. He gave a theatrical bow and said, "My name is Jhin, virtuoso and artist."

To his dismay, the girl looked crestfallen. "Oh, you're one of those boring types that mess around with paint and stuff? Oh well, been nice knowing you, gonna go blow stuff up now." She turned on her heels and walked away.

Jhin's eyes narrowed. _So she misunderstands. What of it?_ He turned to walk away as well, but something compelled him to turn around and watch her for a moment longer.

She walked to the corner, then immediately turned and fired several rockets into the nearest building. Jhin looked at the spectacle, mildy entertained, even amused. _So she destroys for the sake of it. Coarse._ He wrote it off until the young woman turned around to run out of the impending blast radius, and he caught a full on view of her face.

It was breathtaking. There was passion there, a cruel fire that burned within those violet eyes of hers. His mouth went agape in understanding. She didn't destroy just for the sake of it, she destroyed because it was her passion-no, her drive. It was her art, the marks she left on the world, the moments where she felt truly alive.

Jhin understood all too well. She was in a performance of her own devising, she was the playwright and the performer. She even fashioned her own stage. The show of chaos, in a stage of order.

His grip on his weapon tightened with awe. He was a genius for sure, a pioneer ahead of his time. But he could only make so much of an impact. He could admit that even his finest work could not light up a city. But this young woman, she had the sky as her canvas and society itself as her paint. She performed on a larger scale that even Jhin found impressive. He performed with order, purpose. Staging all of his shows ahead of time, making his puppets dance to the music of orchestrated death. It was supposed to be perfect. But he understood that perfection came from both order and disorder, chaos and harmony. Both working in tandem for the perfect performance.

For what was order without chaos? What was purity without impurity?

He had tried to be both. For so long he was the Golden Demon, an performer of chaos, or so he hoped. But no matter how he tried, his passion prevented him from being a true disciple of chaos. He realized that he would never be. It was not his place.

It was her place. She had been chosen as the dancer of chaos, a true disciple of her craft.

The stage of Valoran was set for the perfect performance, a _duo_ performance with the artists of chaos and order.

He was order. She was chaos. Together their beautiful performance would shake the heavens for ages to come.

He saw the other half of the perfect act run past him and to the square beyond. He would not let her leave.

He could not let her leave. She had to understand, like he did, that the stars themselves aligned for them to perform as a duo act.

On the largest stage of any artist.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I plan to be releasing a new chapter/story every other day till I get caught up with what I already have, then I'll move forward from there.**

"Wait!" Jhin called, breaking into a brisk trot to keep up with the hyperactive young woman as she ran past him.

She spun around to face him and started running backwards. "Yeah? What's up Mask Dude?"

"I have a proposition." The masked man said as he ran up to her side. "A proposal for a partnership."

Her face wrinkled in confusion. "Partnership? You wanna be partners?" She stopped running and pretended to think about it. "Hmm. What do you think Fishbones?" She asked, pulling out her rocket launcher.

"Well I don't think that's a good idea." She said while flapping Fishbones' "mouth". "He seems like an unsavory criminal. I don't think we can trust him."

Jhin started. _So is this how it ends?_ He thought in a pained inner monologue. _Is my dream of the perfect performance being shelved by the very tools of chaos herself?_

"So... What you're saying Fishbones, is that I shouldn't partner up with Mask Dude?" She asked her weapon with concern.

"Yes, thank you for finally-Well in that case, you've got a deal Mask Dude!" She interrupted herself as a smile broke on her face with disturbing speed.

Jhin was confused, even a little frightened. "But, but your weapon doesn't like the idea."

She waved him off dismissively. "Yeah well nobody likes Fishbones or his opinions." She held out a hand. "The name's Jinx. Pleased to meet ya!"

Jhin shivered with more than delight. _Jinx. The name that means "inviter of chaos." From birth she was destined for this role. We are so different yet we are the same in deeper ways than I could have imagined. Jinx. Four letters of chaos. Jhin. Four letters of order. Born for greatness, born for the highest art. Together we shall display our work among the very stars that shine above us. For generations people will-_

 **BANGBANGBANGBANG**

His internal reverie was interrupted by a quadruplet of shots fired right in front of him. He snapped out of it to see an amused Jinx bringing her machine gun down to her side after firing it in the air. "Hey, I said 'pleased to meet you', not 'pleased to watch you stare off into La-La Land for like five minutes.'"

Jhin raised an eyebrow. _So that's what it looks like when I do that._ He thought before stretching out his hand to shake Jinx's.

However before his hand reached hers, she suddenly pulled it back. "Uh-uh mister, you forgot the secret handshake already?"

"But we didn't create a-"

"I know, I made it up just now!" She said excitedly. She made a disgusting sound from the back of her throat and spit on her palm. "THIS is how we shake now!"

Jhin shuddered in revulsion, but he knew it was to be expected. _Disgusting? I can think of better words to use._ He thought, critizising his internal narrative. _She is the agent of chaos. Why should I expect to understand her ways? This is where her art stems from._ Luckily he caught Jinx's eyes narrow in irritation at his delay and quickly moved to shake her hand.

She moved her hand back again. "Didn't see ya spit mister." She said with a grin. "You gotta spit for it to count."

Jhin frowned and began to reply, but an idea shot into his mind. "Wait. If I can kill somebody, make them explode into art, Would that count?"

Jinx thought again. "Hmm... It wouldn't be like any handshake I've ever done." She smiled wickedly. "I like it. Fire away, Virtual So-And-So!"

Jhin excitedly pulled out Whisper. _This is it, my audition. This is the moment where Chaos evaluates if Order is ready to take the stage along with it. Order has chosen Chaos to be its dance partner, now Chaos must choose Order._

He had chosen his target. A lone patrolman who had escaped the wreckage, on the far side of the street yelling something into his communicator. He leveled Whisper and prepared to fire his second glob of paint, his second bullet. It would rearrange the body of his canvas into something worth the effort of the Virtuoso, something that could dance to his song.

He slowed his breathing once again, and reveled in the moment. His second bullet was plated in a copper-bronze alloy that he had lovingly crafted himself. But it was no less valuable than his golden sunrise, merely different. It was the blood red of an autumn day, the sheen of dying leaves plummeting from their mother tree.

He squeezed the trigger.

* * *

Jinx watched excitedly as Jhin leveled his weapon. What was it going to do? Was the copper going to blow up into a million pieces? Was he going to get hit so hard he ends up flipping over himself in a hilarious fashion before he goes splat? Was he going to blow up into a million pieces? _Oh please be the explosion!_ She thought excitedly as she crossed her fingers for luck.

She heard the bang, and she watched with mounting excitement as the bullet flew towards its prey.

The patrolman dropped flat to the ground with no ceremony. She caught a glimpse of a orangeish puff where the bullet hit but nothing more. Jinx visibly deflated with disappointment. "Aww, tough luck Jhin, looks like it was a dud." She turned to Jhin to console him on the loss of a perfectly good handshake. But the man wasn't disappointed.

He was on the ground, on his knees in fact, sighing and moaning with ecstasy at the corpse. His hands were raised towards the body, as if he was trying to reach it. She kept hearing him mutter "Art." "Perfection." "Beautiful." with that creepy whisper of his, like he was looking at a giant painting.

Jinx made a face she thought she never would. A strange mixture of bewilderment and confusion. "I thought I was crazy." She muttered in a rare moment of self reflection. "But I gotta admit, he's kinda cute when he overreacts like that. I gotta show him some real exploding people later; he doesn't know what he's missing." She looked over to a side street and saw a brand new hextech RCR-4000, a popular vehicle among the snooty people around the area that could go really fast. Her eyes widened and she looked like it was her birthday present. She turned around and kicked Jhin on his rear hard enough to send him to the pavement.

Jhin let out a grunt of pain and scrambled to his feet. "Why would you end the show?!" He asked indignantly. "It was just getting good!"

"Uh-huh. Look Jhin..." Jinx said with a tinge of boredom in her tone. "So far you haven't impressed me. All I've seen you do was shoot a guy. And it took like five minutes. I can shoot like twenty and destroy the building they were inside of in less time. I don't know if this partner thing is going to work out." She held up a finger to silence his protest. "But... If you can show me how much fun you can be while driving that," she pointed to the RCR for emphasis, "then you're not fired."

Jhin stared at the vehicle, still too hung up at his failed audition to reply.

"Well what are you waiting for? Come on!" She yelled, racing towards the RCR and dragging Jhin along with her.

* * *

"It is my honor to present you with the key to the city of Piltover. Please honor the Defender of Tomorrow, Jayce!" Statesman Redlin beamed as he presented the award to the famed inventor, made a celebrity ever since his defeat of the villainous Viktor.

Caitlyn and one of her squads was designated head of security by the city, and she had just finished another routine check in with all her squad members. She glanced to the podium where Jayce was beginning his speech, but she couldn't afford to pay attention to a thing he said. She needed to focus. She looked over at her partner Vi, who was currently bored out of her mind. "If you really have nothing to do, why don't you listen to Jayce's speech and tell me the gist of it later?" Caitlyn asked, her accent making her sound older than she really was.

"Nah, he's boring." Vi said with a yawn, leaning her back on one of the pillars holding up the city hall. "He's so in love with himself that I think I'd shut him up if I had to listen to him for more than five minutes."

"Well then help me. Move to Quadrant D and be on the lookout for people coming in from the north."

"On the lookout for who, the tax collector?" Vi asked dismissively. "Nobody's going to come, this is not where the important stuff is happening."

Caitlyn opened her mouth to assert her authority as superior officer, but her communicator bleeped. She swiped it from her uniform and answered briskly. "Yes Officer Cleming?" Her eyes widened. "I'll get two more squads in for backup. Thank you." She cut the communication and looked up to see a very alert Vi standing close by.

"What happened?" Vi asked, trying her best to contain herself. Despite her best efforts a smile of excitement broke through.

Caitlyn swapped channels on her communicator and barked some commands. She looked back at Vi and said one word. "Jinx."

Vi's eyes widened for a second, but then narrowed into a steely gaze.

Caitlyn knew what she was thinking. "Absolutely not Vi, we are stationed here. I have men already on her trail. She won't escape this time. I had Heimerdinger upgrade our squad cars with special equipment for dealing with Jinx."

"That doesn't matter, I'm going after that twerp." Vi said as she moved to leave the premises.

Caitlyn moved to block the path. "Vi, your refusal to follow orders needs to be addressed. I cannot have you be a bad example to the rest of the police force by allowing you to do what you want whenever you want."

Vi gritted her teeth and dropped roughly against the pillar to resume her guard duties. "Fine." She snarled.

Satisfied, Caitlyn turned her back. She heard the smashing of a wall and immediately regretted her decision. She turned around and saw a large hole smashed into the wall, with drywall still crumbling from the edges. She quickly looked back to the ceremony to see if anybody noticed; she breathed a sigh of relief when nobody looked in her direction. "I hate it when she does that." She muttered in exasperation. Unable to follow her for a desire not to have protocol broken a second time, she forced her attention back to the task and hand and wrote a note to herself to consider alternative reprimand options for the Piltover Enforcer.


	3. Chapter 3

Jinx dragged Jhin with her to the glistening red vehicle, gaining entry with a few shots into the door locks. She dove in once the doors swung open, practically throwing the Virtuoso into the co-pilot's seat as she settled in. Jhin hardly had time to collect himself and fasten his seatbelt before Jinx thumbed the ignition and slammed the accelerator almost before the engine had a chance to start. "Hang on tight!" She shouted as the RCR-4000 thousand rocketed into the main streets.

Jhin gripped the sides of his seat hard enough to pop his knuckles as Jinx weaved in and out of traffic at speeds that made cars moving in their direction pass by in a very disconcerting blur. _Why even make vehicles that can go this fast if there are no streets in Valoran that permit them?!_ Jhin thought as Jinx passed by another car far too close for comfort. "Jinx!" He shouted over the roar of the engine and Jinx's laughter. "Slow down you'll kill us both!" How on Valoran would they create a masterpiece together if they were killed by a wreck?

Jinx shot him a stern look but gave no answer.

"And put on your seat belt! At least if we get into a crash you could survive!" Jhin shouted, completely missing Jinx's warning to shut up. His mind was whirling, and he was visibly shaking. He treasured Chaos just as much as Order, he was sure of it. However right now he had no idea what he should do, and fear gripped him. He was thrown into a performance without a script or lines, and was expected to improv.

Jhin never was good at improv, and the stage fright was overwhelming.

"You really need to lighten up, Mom!" Jinx shouted over the engine as she turned back to the road. "This isn't even close to what I could be doing in this baby." She turned to Jhin with another one of her wicked grins. "In fact..." She hit a button on the car, and the entire roof folded into the back.

"Oh no..." Jhin breathed as the howling wind suddenly became another factor in the ride. He frantically checked his weapons to make sure they were strapped tightly; the last thing he wanted was his props suddenly getting blown away in the turbulence and lost forever. He looked back to Jinx to see her looking at something in the rear view mirror. He turned to see the colored sirens of cop cars. "So they've caught up to us." He muttered, the butterflies in his stomach being calmed somewhat now that there were antagonists in this performance. Things were falling in place to become a situation that he could comfortably prepare for and handle.

"Hmm. Looks like the coppers want to come spoil our fun!" Jinx shouted over the wind. "Don't worry I have a plan! Take off your seatbelt!"

"Are you insane?!" Jhin demanded, unaware of the irony. "I'm not doing that!"

Jinx shrugged. "Okay."

Jhin started to speak when his voice caught in his throat. His face turned as pale as his mask when Jinx nonchalantly let go of the wheel and hopped to the back seat with her minigun out. Jhin scrambled out of his seat belt and dove for the wheel and frantically turned it to keep them from shooting into the wrong side of the road.

"Knew you'd come around!" Jinx shouted happily as she started firing into the group of cop cars chasing them.

Jhin gripped the wheel and tried to swerve around traffic like Jinx did, and he was certain his survival instinct was the only thing giving him the proper reflexes at the moment. He wanted to slow down, but he was acutely aware that this was likely his last chance at an audition with the perfect partner. He flipped on the headlights because dusk was drawing near, then glanced into the rear view mirror to check Jinx's progress, and noticed that the police cars were clearly reinforced; Jinx's minigun shots did no more than slightly dent the metal. This of course did not discourage Jinx, and she didn't stop firing until she ran out of ammo.

Disappointed in her gun, Jinx tossed it to the seat beside her and pulled out her rocker launcher. "Let's see if your tin cans can take this!" She shouted as she started shooting rockets at them.

However a new sort of hextech weaponry whipped out of the roofs of the cop cars, and fired short laser bursts that caused the rockets to detonate early. Their accuracy was on point, and soon Jinx ran out of rockets as well.

Jhin was at his wit's end when a scrap of a plan formed in his mind. He mentally lunged at it, treasured it as a script. Albeit it was a short one, and riddled with fragments, but it would have to do. He swerved to the right to go down a less busy section of the city, however he turned too quickly and ended up on the sidewalk. He nearly ran into a blonde youth who had turned the corner. Jhin only had time to see the youth's widened eyes, wonder if he would make good improv art, and see a yellow flash before he hit empty air. He craned his neck back to see the youth reappear on the sidewalk, an indignant expression on the boy's face. _Teleportation._ Jhin thought dryly. _Have the people of Piltover finally unlocked that secret?_

He still heard the sirens as he swerved to the left, down another street. He turned to the right the first chance he got and repeated the process until he went right twice in a row, ducking behind an alley and cutting the power. He heard the sirens scream past their location, still following the pattern he had set.

He lept out of the car and scanned the surrounding area. The rest of the plan became taking form, and he had a perfect answer when Jinx leaped out of the car and demanded to know why he stopped. "Do you have any explosives on you?" He asked instead of answering the question.

Jinx dug in a pouch on her belt and pulled out little devices that looked like a mixture between a robot and a bear trap. "Yeah, I got these flame chompers. What's this about?"

Jhin smiled under his mask. "I am going to make up for my handshake. But I will need them."

She shrugged noncommittally and pulled out two more before tossing them on the ground. "Okay there, now make up for being a wuss."

"All in due time." He said, before reaching under his cloak and pulling out one of his signature lotus traps. He placed the delicate device next to the three flame chompers on the ground, making the set up perfect.

The stage was set, he simply needed the rest of the actors to show up.

"Jinx, get in the car." Jhin said in his theatrical whisper. "The stage is set."

"Yeah okay, but I'm driving. No offense but you drive like a grandma."

"That was before. Now I have a script to go by. I will not disappoint."

Jinx still looked skeptical, but she relented.

* * *

He shot back onto the road, causing as much havoc as possible with his driving to alert the authorities to their presence. Right on cue, the police showed up once again, and proceeded to pick up the chase.

He drove like a maniac, diving in and out of traffic and through populated areas so skillfully that Jinx was impressed. "Atta boy, Mask Dude!" She whooped in glee.

Though all was chaos on the outside, inside of the Virtuoso, everything was as calm as ice. _This_ was the kind of chaos he lived for, scripted from start to finish. It was a crude mockery of chaos for sure, but this was how he could keep up with Chaos' avatar herself. It was a sacrifice for art. Hopefully one she would understand.

One...

He counted the streets he passed before he and his actors arrived to the stage, a complex pattern of his journey that he had memorized and successfully backtracked. As he did, he watched the pursuing cars carefully, noting that despite their weighty armor they managed to match his sharp turns rather well.

Two...

He turned into the alleyway, knowing that he caused enough havoc to make sure the cops didn't give up the chase. He concluded that the cars must have given up defenses elsewhere to lighten the load as much as possible. He knew his plan would work.

Three...

They rolled over the traps he set. setting off their delay timers.

Four...

The traps sprang. As he turned the car around and stopped it dead in its tracks to watch the show. Jhin's lotus trap activated first, unfolding and exploding a beautiful bloom of blade shrapnel all around it. The blades tore through the tires of the first car pursuing, puncturing them immediately and causing an uncontrollable spin. The cars behind scarcely had time to stop themselves before slamming into the lead car.

Their armor held fast, but the underside wasn't as protected, as he had guessed. He heard the screaming of metal as his bladed trap tore through what undercarriages they could, but whether they did or didn't was a non factor.

No, the real stars of the show were the oblong structures on either side of the car pile, the main features of the alley. The blade trap has done its work. He could see the fluid leaking from where stray blades had punctured the metal, and fuel leaked onto the side. Jinx's fire chompers would trigger a second later, and the cataclysmic art needed only one more ingredient.

He pulled out Whisper, which was loaded with his third bullet. A glob of silver paint the color of snow, Winter was ready. He fired his paint into the fuel, and the fire chompers triggered a split second later, and what happened next could only be described as an explosion unlike any Jinx had ever seen.

The fireball expanded outwards as it shot up into the sky, creating a fiery pillar of plume and smoke. The roar of the explosion was music to Jinx's ears, and she watched with delight. Jhin looked on his partner fondly as she was mesmerized by the inferno, not missing a second because he watched the art unfold through Jinx's violet eyes. "Are you impressed now?" Jhin asked proudly, as the explosion continued to reach for the darkening skies.

Jinx tore her vision away from the spectacle and offered him a small smile that was made of warmth instead of malice. "Yeah, you did good. Jhin."

Jhin's heart soared with pride and accomplishment. _She had accepted. Chaos and Order will perform together. And she hasn't even seen the best part yet._ He reached out and tenderly turned Jinx's head back to the show, saying, "Do not look away yet; the show is just beginning. Now you will see the world like I do."

Jinx looked back to the explosion and her jaw dropped in awe. The explosion had changed. It slowly morphed from a simple pillar of fire to a radiant spiral mass of silvery flame.

The flame slowly clumped up and changed into a uniform cloud that started to sparkle tiny silvery stars that sparkled as they descended. The cloud turned from a dark black to a metallic gray, catching the moonlight that had just started to peek over the horizon.

As the cloud continued turning into an Ionian Lotus, edges defined and sharpened by silvery dust, the sparkling stars fell among the duet of chaos and order.

Jinx reached out in wonder and touched one of the sparkles. The sparkle disintegrated immediately upon her touch, but spewed sparkles in all directions.

She was speechless. Jhin watched as she had nothing to say for once. She didn't even get excited by the massive explosion. She simply got out of the car and put her arms out, eyes closed, letting as many sparkles fall on her as possible, basking in and admiring the art Jhin had created. A part of Jhin warmed seeing another appreciate his art the way she did. He had no idea he desired a fan until now. Jhin felt complete for the first time in a very long time.

However the lotus in the sky ended all too soon, and Jinx sighed in satisfaction. "That was a good handshake." She said matter-of-factly as she returned to the car.

"Yes." Jhin said as he laid back in the car and relaxed. "Yes it was."

Jinx looked like she wanted to say more, but she seemed to change her mind quickly. She leaned back in her seat and said, "You did good, Jhin. I'm impressed. Guess we're partners now? Officially?"

Jhin looked to the silvery moon on the horizon that broke through what remained of the cloud. "Yes. Yes we are."

 **AN: Hey all! This is a 4 part story, so expect the finale on Monday!**


	4. Finale

**AN: The finale is here folks!**

Vi heard the explosion before she saw the pillar of flame rise into the air. Fresh anger boiled in her blood; she knew that the cop cars she was following were now nothing more than heaps of twisted metal with even more twisted bodies inside. If there even bodies left after that. She quickened her pace, pumping her arms and willing her hextech armored body to move faster. Her boots slammed the concrete harder and harder as her adrenaline fueled body caused her to strike the ground harder and harder with every step.

She was going to make Jinx pay. For everything.

Ever since she joined Piltover's police force, she promised Caitlyn and herself that she would turn from a life of crime. But right now, tonight, she wanted to commit one more crime. Murder.

The thought made a part of her sick, how could she want to kill somebody? Honestly, the power of her hextech gauntlets coupled with her short temper made it a surprise to everybody that she never killed anybody, even by accident. She herself was surprised the worst she had done was knock a crook unconscious for a few days longer than she expected. It was surprising to everybody except Caitlyn.

"You're not criminal material." She had told her when she offered her the position in the police force. "If you were, with the raw power you had with those gauntlets, you would have left them and made yourself a very rich person through nearly unstoppable heists."

 _Those words sum it up pretty well._ Vi thought. _I became a criminal by necessity._ For a while, it seemed like the "lessons" her old gang had taught her have washed off her during her time as part of Piltover's Finest. But right now a certain lesson kept pumping in her mind, to the rhythm of her beating heart.

 _There's only one way to keep somebody from crossing you a second time._

"Guess we're partners now? Officially?"

That voice caused that lesson to burn to the front of her mind even harder. Who would have known that annoying voice belonged to a psychopathic maniac who killed anybody in her way?

The smoldering wreckage met her eyes first, and one look at what remained caused her rage to boil over. She took one look at the lone vehicle parked nearby as if in audience, and saw her target.

* * *

Jhin heard the charging footsteps before he saw her coming. He sat up in the car and saw the pink-haired young woman charging at them with massive metal gauntlets and fire in her eyes. From her general attire, he gathered she was part of the police force. Her face...

He sat rigid, memories of a vision flashing before his eyes. _I know you._ He thought as the woman came closer. _You're one of the masterpieces I have dreamed of._

He felt a rough grab and was yanked backwards as Jinx pulled him out of the car and away. "What are you doing?! Let's go!" Jinx shouted as Jhin snapped out of it and quickly regained his footing. The car exploded behind them as the pink-haired woman almost shattered the car completely with a single punch as it flew away from her and to the side. Jinx was running towards the streets, but Jhin quickly saw a better alternative. Grabbing her arm, he steered her towards a dilapidated building scheduled for a demolition. "This way!" He insisted. "Her gauntlets will make it difficult for her to get through the doorways and corridors!"

Jinx got the message and raced towards the building. Jhin slowed his step slightly so she could make it first, and was rewarded by nearly getting his face slammed into the door when Jinx ran through by shoving the door open. The door slammed against the adjacent wall and bounced back, but Jhin caught it with his hand instead of his face. Turning and slamming the door shut, he took the time to lock it. _Perhaps she won't try to break it down. She is an officer of the law after all._ He thought. He then turned and followed Jinx up to the second floor of the building, where they encountered long corridors of multiple doors. Jhin understood then that they had entered an old hotel.

Picking a door at random, spurred into action by the sound of a door exploding below, Jinx opened it and rushed in. Jhin followed and locked it behind them, bending over and panting from the exertion.

"Okay what's our plan?" Jinx asked excitedly, seemingly unfazed by that near capture. "How are we gonna make Fat-Hands sorry she messed with us?"

"Plan?" Jhin asked as he finished catching his breath. "Why don't we make sure we're safe first?"

"Safe?" Jinx laughed. "What are you, new at this? She's not going to stop until she loses us or gets sent home crying. I haven't actually gotten her to cry home yet, but with your help I'm sure we can do it!"

"There are too many rooms here, she'll have to go back for backup." Jhin said, thinking quickly, "Once she leaves, we-"

He was interrupted by a loud female voice screaming from downstairs. "I'll find you if I have to tear this building apart brick by brick!" Followed by the sound of things getting smashed beyond recognition.

Jhin gulped. "Alright, scratch that plan. Jinx, do you have any ammo left?"

Jinx shook her head dejectedly. "Pow-Pow and Fishbones are all empty; I sent all the bullets into those stupid armored cars." She brightened as she patted the smaller gun on her belt. "I still have Zap though. It's not gonna do much though. I usually hit Vi with it to make her mad. She's already mad now, so this won't help."

 _Vi._ Jhin repeated in his mind, filing it away. _So you are the name of one of my masterpieces._ "How do you usually get away?"

Jinx shrugged. "Running usually works. I mean, I was gonna take one of my special escape routes that are pretty much guaranteed ways to give her the slip. But you said that this was a better idea, so I thought, 'why not?'"

Jhin nearly slapped his forehead with his hand. "Wonderful. We're trapped in here with a rampaging police officer with giant metal hands to punch us senseless with."

"Yup. So how are you gonna get us out of this, partner?"

Jhin thought. "I know that this building is scheduled for demolition. Piltover is efficient enough to have explosives shipped in about a day or so before demolition to save time. I once stationed in a scheduled building; I know where they keep them. We can lure her to one of them and set them off."

"Great! You be the bait!" Jinx said, getting up and pushing Jhin to the door.

"Wait!" Jhin exclaimed as he put his hands on the door frame in resistance. "She knows you and will chase you much more reliably than she would me."

"But I'm out of bullets!" Jinx protested. "She only chases me when I shoot stuff."

"But she's already angry, remember?"

Jinx's face brightened. "Oh yeah. How much time do ya need?" She asked.

Jhin looked around. "We're on the second floor. The closest one is on the third floor. So give me three-no four-minutes."

She gave him a thumbs up. "You got it partner!" She turned to head out the door when Jhin stopped her. "Wait. Take this." He reached in his cloak and pulled out Whisper. It weighed a million pounds when the rational part of his mind realized what he was going to do. "I doubt my final bullet will pierce her armor, but I would rather you get her attention with noise than getting close enough for her to hear you." His heart was heavy with longing, and he hadn't even parted with it yet. The weapon had never left his side ever since he had lovingly crafted it with his two hands. But he felt he could part with it, if only to give aid to his partner in art.

Jinx's eyes widened, realizing the value of the precious tool. "Wow, really? You're sure? Isn't this like your Fishbones?"

Jhin smiled humorlessly. "Yes, this is like my Fishbones. But I am willing to give the paintbrush to a fellow artist." The rest of his words fell off into silence as Jinx snatched it from him.

"Woah! This is cool!" She said as she fumbled with the unique grip of the weapon. "Hey, is this the-"

 **BANG**

Jhin and Jinx stared at the fresh hole in the floor. Jinx smiled sheepishly and handed Whisper back. "Whoops."

Jhin's eye twitched slightly. "It's..." He wanted to say _It's fine_ , but they both knew it wasn't. "Just yell loudly."

"Gotcha!" She said as she bolted to the crashing sounds. "I'll hide and pop out when it's time! It's like three minutes right?"

"Four!" He called after her. He went and headed to the upper staircase, leaving a trail of lotus traps so Jinx knew the general direction to go. He remembered faintly that he forgot to tell her to follow the lotus traps, but he felt he didn't need to.

He counted 2 minutes when he got to the third floor and found the first explosive device already fastened to one of the exposed steel girders. He had just sighed in satisfaction when he heard:

"HEY FAT-HANDS I'M OVER HERE!"

Jhin cringed. _Why did I bother giving my partner a constraint of order knowing she wouldn't have followed it?_ He thought as he worked furiously to set up his trap.

* * *

Vi zoomed up the stairs and tore into the second floor, growling in irritation when she realized she was in a hotel.

"I'm over here!" She heard Jinx call from one of the rooms on the right side. Completely ignoring the door, she turned and punched right through the wall, stepping through the hole into an old bathroom. She punched her way out of the bathroom and immediately saw her quarry.

Jinx was sitting cross-legged on the bed, and was smiling that obnoxious smile at her. "Hey! You're just in time for the slumber party!"

"Yeah, and I'm the sandman. Time for you to go to sleep." Vi snarled as she let loose a ferocious fist towards Jinx's smug face.

Jumping faster than Vi expected, Jinx leaped onto her feet and then planted her hand on Vi's fist, using it as a platform to flip over Vi and onto the floor behind her. With a laugh she took off running. "Gotta be faster than that Fat-Hands!" She taunted as she ran out the door.

She skidded into the hallway and noticed Jhin's traps. "Sweet, we're playing hopscotch with blades." Jinx said with dark relish as she hopped over all of the deadly flowers, making her way to the next staircase without incident. She looked back to see Vi running towards her without care, tripping nearly all of them. Jinx frowned in disappointment and shot up the stairs when Vi reached the stairs and escaped the deadly explosions.

She ran up the stairs at a brisk pace, and reached the third floor quickly. Running through the door she saw Jhin sticking something inside a hole in the wall just by the entrance. "Hey I hope you're ready cuz Vi's coming!" She yelled as she ran past him.

Jhin narrowed his eyes in irritation at being rushed, but Jinx didn't see him. He finished it and stepped back in admiration. Unfortunately his appreciation was cut short by the doors ahead being shattered to pieces. Jhin jumped back as Vi stepped through the empty doorway, cracking her knuckles with a grim expression on her face. "Looks like I'm going to have to dumpster two criminals today." She said in a low voice as she approached.

Jhin bowed theatrically, "You're just in time for the performance." He whispered.

Vi paused, a puzzled expression on her face, right where he wanted. _Perfect._ He thought, _I just need to-_

His thoughts were interrupted by Jinx making a rude noise behind them. What she did exactly was lost to Jhin, but it made Vi explode. She rushed at Jinx, shoving Jhin to one side hard enough to send him towards a wall. Jhin heard rather than felt something crack, and he felt the wind was knocked out of him. He attempted to move his arm and pain shot up his arm and nearly made him scream. Only strict self control kept him silent.

He looked up to see Jinx running around the dining hall as Vi destroyed it. He gathered his strength, counting on Jinx going back to the entrance to escape. Sure enough, after looping around the dining hall at least three times Jinx ran back to the entrance, past Jhin's trap. As Vi followed Jhin took a deep breath. He clutched his cane, ignoring the pain. He was going to create art today. A masterpiece. So what if there was pain involved for the artist as well. "Art is worth the pain." He whispered as he lifted his cane and fired with perfect precision.

The shot tore between the joints in Vi's leg armor, and Vi screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, right next to the explosives. Jhin could see the night sky through a large window on the outside wall, also near the entrance. The idea behind the design was to invite visitors to the dining hall by first closing them in a short corridor by the inner wall and the window, obstructing their view of most of the hall and forcing them to notice the wonderful view of the outside world. Jhin couldn't remember the name of the Piltoveran artisan who came up with the idea, but he thanked him silently, from one artist to another.

From Jhin's vantage point he could see both the wall with the explosives inside it and the window, and he knew where to shoot next. Ignoring the pain once again, he fired at the explosives he hid in the wall.

Vi only had time to widen her eyes in shock and raise her hands in a futile gesture of protection before her world ended in a burst of fire.

Jhin watched as his canvas flew through the window with a loud shatter, and lifted Whisper to finish his masterpiece in the air. His weapon clicked with an empty clip, and frustration and agony riled in his mind. He had forgotten Jinx had fired his last shot already. He was going to lament his first masterpiece being ruined, until he noticed something about Vi as her limp body flew out the window. _Her face._ He thought furiously. _It's too young! Not at all like my vision! She's a few years shy of being ready!_

Breathing gratefulness at his good fortune, he thanked Chaos itself for being mindful of the readiness of his canvas even when the Virtuoso himself didn't notice. It had influenced Jinx to fire the shot early, therefore preventing him from creating his art prematurely.

She would live. He knew this despite the sound of her landing on a car on the street below. He knew her armor would protect her from death at least. _Even if she is paralyzed completely by this._ He thought as he struggled to his feet. _She will be ready to be my art in a few years._

Jinx came back into the room and looked out the shattered window. Whistling, she said "Well that's quite a drop." She went over to Jhin and helped him up. "Nice one partner, did you finish her off?"

"No." Jhin said as he clutched his broken right arm with his left. "She will live."

"Aww." Jinx whined. "Too bad we're both out of bullets."

Jhin followed her out of the building, nodding his agreement but leaping with joy in his heart for another chance to craft his masterpiece.

* * *

Jhin and Jinx stood in a dark street on the opposite and relatively calmer side of Piltover. Just a few blocks away Jhin heard the sounds of the train that would take him back to Ionia, or at least most of the way. Jinx had her arms crossed with a smile on her face, seemingly unfazed by the cool winds whipping her hair around. "Well that was a fun day partner." She said, emphasizing the word with a thump to his back.

"Yes, it was. You are quite the artist." Jhin said appreciatively.

"And you're the right kind of crazy." Jinx said playfully. "You sure you have to go?"

"Unfortunately my work demands it." Jhin answered. "My employers need me back in Ionia to make art out of a few of their enemies."

Jinx wrinkled her nose at the word _Employers_. "Eww, you have to follow rules?"

"At times. Mostly they just give me something to do and don't care how I do it, so long as nobody can find out they did it." He motioned to a dumpster. "Over there is my travel bag. I keep my suit and weapons there when I'm traveling."

"You mean you don't travel wearing that mask?" Jinx asked in amazement. "Why do you wear it anyway, you have bad acne?"

Jhin chuckled. "No, in fact I look quite unremarkable without it. It is part of my act. Just like your weapons."

Jinx nodded in understanding. "I still have some stuff I want to do here, but I'll head over to Ionia to help you teach those meditating tea lovers how to have fun." She added with a wink. "Where do you want to meet?"

Jhin handed her a slip of paper. "I will be here on the fourth of next month. We can meet then and then become fully fledged artisans of chaos and order."

"I'm looking forward to exactly half of that." Jinx said with a laugh. "I may see your boring face without that mask yet." She gave him a quick peck on the lips of his mask. "Thanks for the fun." She added before disappearing into the next alley.

Jhin stood there a moment in silence before moving to slip out of his costume and into street clothing. _Jinx is so more than an agent of chaos._ He thought as he took off his mask. "She's a work of art all on her own." He finished silently.

Khada Jhin slipped out of the alleyway and merged silently into the crowd, never seen for the artist that he was.


End file.
